words break at random in mobi file

laurenrw · 11-23-2011, 02:08 PM

I've converted my (well-behaved) epub file to .mobi format, and everything looks good except word breaks. Words break at the end of a line at random -- for example, if the line can't fit the whole word "coming" then "comin" will appear at the end of the line and the "g" appears at the start of the next line. It looks awful.

Anyone ever seen this? Wha went wrong and how do I fix it?

Appreciate any help anyone can offer. Thank you, -- Lauren

laurenrw · 11-23-2011, 06:08 PM

To add to the confusion: I enabled "heuristic processing and dinked around with the line unwrap factor. I set it to 0.20 -- made matters worse. Set it to 0.60 -- made matters *much* worse. Why should the situation get worse (more words breaking at line endings) *either way*?!?

Sure could use a clue here. Thanks.

Serpentine · 11-23-2011, 10:19 PM

It's hard to speculate about these things, I'd think it's something caused by someone TiDy with wrapping enabled and \n\r EOL's. If you could post some of the raw epub formatting, that might show what's happening. Should be fixable with a little regex if it's what I think.

laurenrw · 11-24-2011, 01:21 PM

Serpentine,

Not sure what you mean by the raw epub formatting. Attached is a sample epub file made from (a portion of) the same source in exactly the same way. Will this work?

Thanks for any help you can offer. -- Lauren

Serpentine · 11-24-2011, 04:33 PM

Ah, it looks like some of the CSS in that is causing Calibre to replace all of the spaces with non-breaking spaces. As such it just sees entire paragraphs as a single long word, when it does line wrapping it cant try to cut at white spaces. i.e.,

Code:

<p class="calibre18"><span class="calibre7">“Never&nbsp;imagined&nbsp;I’d&nbsp;be&nbsp;a&nbsp;babysitter,”&nbsp;I&nbsp;hear&nbsp;SNIPno&nbsp;idea&nbsp;I’m&nbsp;grooming&nbsp;the&nbsp;horse&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;next&nbsp;stall.</span></p>

You can fix this by removing: white-space

re-wrap
From the styles, in specifically the divs that wrap each chapter.

laurenrw · 11-24-2011, 05:02 PM

OK, thanks for the clue. But how do I get at the CSS? I have a tool that can open and edit CSS (and any other text) files -- what I don't see is how to get to it. I have an epub file in and a mobi file out, and both appear as just a single binary file to the OS.

Where or how do I get the file to edit?
Thank you.

Serpentine · 11-24-2011, 06:51 PM

I would suggest downloading Sigil - it'll let you edit the EPUB directly and does everything you need. Once that is removed the conversion should be as expected, it should also read a bit easier on other devices if they decide to support that option.

laurenrw · 11-24-2011, 07:22 PM

Thank you. Much appreciated.

laurenrw · 11-25-2011, 01:44 PM

Yes, Sigil fixed it. Helps to know *what* to change. Thanks for your help.

11-23-2011, 02:08 PM	#1
laurenrw Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: ipad	words break at random in mobi file I've converted my (well-behaved) epub file to .mobi format, and everything looks good except word breaks. Words break at the end of a line at random -- for example, if the line can't fit the whole word "coming" then "comin" will appear at the end of the line and the "g" appears at the start of the next line. It looks awful. Anyone ever seen this? Wha went wrong and how do I fix it? Appreciate any help anyone can offer. Thank you, -- Lauren

11-24-2011, 04:33 PM	#5
Serpentine Evangelist Posts: 416 Karma: 1045911 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Cape Town, South Africa Device: Kindle 3	Ah, it looks like some of the CSS in that is causing Calibre to replace all of the spaces with non-breaking spaces. As such it just sees entire paragraphs as a single long word, when it does line wrapping it cant try to cut at white spaces. i.e., Code: <p class="calibre18"><span class="calibre7">“Never imagined I’d be a babysitter,” I hear SNIPno idea I’m grooming the horse in the next stall.</span></p> You can fix this by removing: white-spacere-wrap From the styles, in specifically the divs that wrap each chapter.

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11-23-2011, 06:08 PM	#2
laurenrw Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: ipad	To add to the confusion: I enabled "heuristic processing and dinked around with the line unwrap factor. I set it to 0.20 -- made matters worse. Set it to 0.60 -- made matters much worse. Why should the situation get worse (more words breaking at line endings) either way?!? Sure could use a clue here. Thanks.

11-23-2011, 10:19 PM	#3
Serpentine Evangelist Posts: 416 Karma: 1045911 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Cape Town, South Africa Device: Kindle 3	It's hard to speculate about these things, I'd think it's something caused by someone TiDy with wrapping enabled and \n\r EOL's. If you could post some of the raw epub formatting, that might show what's happening. Should be fixable with a little regex if it's what I think.

11-24-2011, 05:02 PM	#6
laurenrw Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: ipad	OK, thanks for the clue. But how do I get at the CSS? I have a tool that can open and edit CSS (and any other text) files -- what I don't see is how to get to it. I have an epub file in and a mobi file out, and both appear as just a single binary file to the OS. Where or how do I get the file to edit? Thank you.

11-24-2011, 06:51 PM	#7
Serpentine Evangelist Posts: 416 Karma: 1045911 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Cape Town, South Africa Device: Kindle 3	I would suggest downloading Sigil - it'll let you edit the EPUB directly and does everything you need. Once that is removed the conversion should be as expected, it should also read a bit easier on other devices if they decide to support that option.

11-24-2011, 07:22 PM	#8
laurenrw Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: ipad	Thank you. Much appreciated.

11-25-2011, 01:44 PM	#9
laurenrw Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: ipad	Yes, Sigil fixed it. Helps to know what to change. Thanks for your help.

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